"You don't see yourself very clearly, do you? Claire said in amazement. She was surprised by his low opinion of himself, he always seemed so confident. But then, she recalled that day in the classroom. Sylar had offered her any body she wanted because he hadn't thought it possible that she could desire him.
"I see myself perfectly. I know what I am."
"I don't think you do."
"If you think this is funny," he snarled, but she cut him off.
"No, I don't. And I don't understand how you don't know the way women see you."
"I know how you see me."
"But that's different. You did horrible things to me." He turned his face away. "Besides, I'm not sure how I feel about you right now."
He whipped back to look at her, head tilted as if trying to read her thoughts.
"But, that's not the point either. Women are attracted to you." He snorted and looked away again. "The gas station attendant, the waitress, Alice, Hilda; the list goes on, I'm sure, but those are the ones I know about."
"No. Hilda is up to something and Alice would spread her legs for anything human. I don't know what gas station worker you're talking about, but that waitress was after Eli. Samuel was-"
"No, she was after you. Well, yeah; she noticed the others, but she wanted you."
He was quiet for a few moments then shrugged. "If she was attracted to anything it was the danger she could sense."
"Why can't it just be that you're a handsome guy?"
"Because I'm not."
"Who told you that? Because whoever she was, she's off her rocker."
"Then why am I always alone?" He was looking at her strangely, head cocked to the side.
"You tend to kill people, that's enough to make most girls run. Plus, you assume hidden motives are involved whenever someone hits on you. That or you don't even notice it."
"Is that true?"
"Why would I lie? To spare your feelings? I don't think so."
He grunted, but said nothing further on the topic. Sylar tidied the bed and Claire stood awkwardly, wondering if she should help. Done, he reclined back on it and stared absently at the ceiling. She hovered for a few more seconds, then plopped into the chair. His eyes followed her, not quite staying on her face.
A glance down and she knew why. In the dark, the clothes he loaned her were fine, but with sunlight filtering in, the shirt was too thin. It wasn't exactly see-through, but it also didn't leave too much to the imagination. Her cheeks turned rosy as she crossed her arms over her breasts in a late attempt at modesty.
"Search the dresser, use whatever you want."
"Don't suppose you have anything female in there?"
"Nope."
He never moved as she dug through his clothes, looking for something that might fit. He needed to think about his goals, the reasons he was with the carnival.
His biggest problem, as usual, pertained to Noah Bennett; he needed to be stopped. The question was, how to do it? Or rather, how to stop him without destroying Claire? Sylar groaned and covered his eyes; he wished he could just leave it alone. But that wasn't feasible.
"I look ridiculous," Claire complained exiting the bathroom. The pants were huge on her, even rolled up half a dozen times at the bottom. His shirt hung loosely and down to her thighs. She looked like a child playing dress-up in her father's clothes.
"Put on your shoes." He stood and pulled on his own.
"Where we going?" She asked, one hand holding up her pants, while she slipped on her flipflops.
"Shopping. I need eggs, ;you need clothes."
She frowned and looked down at herself. "Didn't think it was that bad."
"You look like a little kid."
"Yeah," she grumbled, then narrowed her eyes at him. "That bothers you?"
"Course it does. It's ruining my image of you." He snorted. "All harmless and innocent; I'll forget to watch my back and then you'll kill me."
Claire sighed as she watched him grab some money. "I don't want to kill anyone."
"And yet you've come closer to succeeding than anyone." He gripped her elbow and left the trailer.
"You hold back when we fight." She let him wrap his arms around her, tucking her close to his body.
"I didn't know you realized that." Her hands gripped his biceps tightly as he sprang into the air.
"Only just." She moved her dangling feet to rest atop his.
"We have to do something about Noah before he gets himself killed. Or succeeds."
She stared at him, eyes wide, surrounded by clouds. "What's he doing?"
"Playing god."
They landed in a little wooded area and walked towards the bright lights of Wal-Mart.
"What happens if he does it? Completes whatever you don't want to tell me about?"
"You don't want to know and you probably wouldn't believe me anyhow."
"It's that bad?"
He eyed her from the side but didn't answer. "Let's make this quick. I expect Samuel will be wanting to pay you a visit today. And he'll want you to be properly demoralized."
"So nothing too expensive, is that what you're saying?"
He grinned, "I only have seventy-five dollars on me, so yeah, think conservative."
A/N: Yes, yes, shorter than you like, I know. But, what else?
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